Feigned Simplicity
by IlluminationImpact
Summary: Unexplainable things happen, and sometimes unexplainable things happen that take away the people we cherish most Childhood and innocence are things that don't last forever, and sometimes even the best die young. It won't let me choose rating MA, but this is your warning: violence and language, etc. No sexual content, but read at your own risk.


**I do not own fossil fighters or any of the characters. I solely own this story. **

Feigned simplicity

_By Illumination_

It was one of those nights, the kind of night in August when it was slightly cooler than normal, and there was a promise of the coming fall in the night air. There weren't as many crickets and cicadas singing their night song, and the few that still continued to sing seemed instead to sing a sweeter, sadder song that served as an ending to the season.

Fang coughed again, the only sound to be heard from her all night. She had remained completely silent while the others continued their conversation:

"But seriously, did you guys, like, not invite him or something?" Lola was asking, passing the joint to Pauleen, who puffed once sheepishly and passed it on.

"No." Cole replied flatly.

"Well, why the fuck not?" Lola asked, some kind of defiance flashing up in her voice only to die under the effects of being high as a kite.

"Because he's a fucking, tweaker, crack head asshole, that's why." Cole snapped at her, and Rupert laughed because the guy had a damn good point.

Fang coughed again.

"Yeah, Lester would have definitely ruined this." Pauleen agreed, glancing at Cole before looking to the bonfire. "Everyone agrees he's a dick wheel, right?" Murmurs of concurrence melted into the crackling of the fire. Fang coughed.

Lola tossed her hair. "Whatever. He's _my_ friend."

"By friend do you mean dealer?" Cole retorted humorously.

"Hell yeah! He gives me best friend discounts and everything."

Rupert laughed again. "That's nice Lola. That's real nice."

Then he heard Fang cough again. He wouldn't have thought too much of it if it hadn't been followed by an excruciating choking sound.

He turned to her, and her hands were at her mouth, her eyes wide with a kind of unexplainable fear.

Cole had noticed also, and as he leaned forward to get a better look at the girl who shook in the firelight, he said softly:

"Is…Is that…Blood?"

Fang lurched forwards, her hands leaving her mouth and latching hard onto the grass, as a scarlet cascade so thick it was almost black tore out of her mouth and sunk her screams into more choking, exasperated breaths. Everyone jumped to their feet, and the quiet night song of the cicadas was shoved away with their shouts and cries.

"Someone fucking call for help!" Cole's voice soared above the others, hardened yet terrified. Pauleen wrapped her face with her hands and sobbed as she watched her friend convulse, then she buried her face in Todd's shoulder. Todd stood rigid, horrified. Lola had her cell phone shoved to her ear, her contorted face showed a distracted expression for a moment before frustration shot through it and she threw the phone to the ground.

"Shit! No reception!" She screamed to her feet. Suddenly she felt Todd shove past her, moving rapidly, and saw on his face determination, but in his eyes wild fear beyond recognition. He rushed past Lola and towards the edge of the clearing.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Lola shrieked after him, but Todd did not respond and disappeared into the brush.

"I think he's going back to Ribular for help." Pauleen said hollowly, and Lola had barely heard her over Fang's constant screams.

Rupert could see her fingers cling to the grass desperately as sharp points shoved out through the ends of them. Her hand was tearing apart, the bones lengthening and narrowing as the skin pushed away and melted around something new. Rupert didn't have the time nor the stability to think about anything. He threw himself into Fang, shoving his arms hard into her shoulders and matching the force of her seizure. Blood had stopped pouring from Fang's mouth, but it dripped from places where her skin began to twist and tear. Her back arched to an unreasonable degree and she screeched, loud and blood-curdling. Still Rupert held to her, forcing in sync with her convulsions and he shot a stare into her eyes, that were now no longer her normal eyes. They had changed, and he could see black spindles reaching from the rime to the center of the pale, milky iris where a black slit of pupil lay. Fang's mouth contorted and Rupert could see it now: what she was becoming. Her newly formed slender bones tore through the inside of her human skin, which itself was bubbling and smoothing into rigid spikes and shimmering black scales. Fang's long, sharp jaw snapped and contracted, spilling inhuman screams into the night.

Rupert held her eyes in his and screamed back at her. He screamed her name and never stopped looking into her eyes and willing them to become human again. Suddenly, Rupert watched Fang's narrow pupils lose their ferocity and, gradually, their focus. They glazed over, succumbing to pain, and Rupert started to scream louder. He screamed for her to look at him, to wake up and snap out of it, and he screamed into the firelight reflected in her hollow eyes until to paramedics came.


End file.
